AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Democrats ended a two-week walkout Monday that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts as part of a national partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s desire to reshape U.S. House maps to his advantage.
Their return to Texas — where state police will escort the lawmakers to ensure they don’t leave again — puts the Republican-run Legislature in position to satisfy Trump’s demands as California Democrats advance new congressional boundaries in retaliation.
The tit-for-tat puts the nation’s two most populous states at the center of an expanding fight over control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The battle has rallied Democrats nationally following infighting and frustrations among the party’s voters since Republicans took total control of the federal government in January.
Dozens of Texas Democratic lawmakers left for Illinois and elsewhere on Aug. 3 to deny their Republican colleagues the attendance necessary to vote on redrawn maps intended to send five more Texas Republicans to Washington. They declared victory Friday, after Texas Republicans adjourned their first special session and Democrats nationally rallied in opposition to Trump’s maneuvering. They pointed specifically to California’s proposal intended to increase Democrats’ U.S. House advantage by five seats, effectively neutralizing potential Republican gains in Texas.
Many absent Democrats left Chicago early Monday and landed hours later at a private airfield in Austin, where several boarded a charter bus to the Capitol. Cheering supporters greeted them inside. And for the first time since Trump’s redistricting push accelerated into a national issue, the Texas House floor was near capacity when lawmakers briefly convened.
Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows did not mention redistricting on the floor but promised swift action on the Legislature’s agenda.
“The majority has the right to prevail. The minority has the right to be heard,” the speaker said. “We are done waiting.”
Burrows previously issued civil arrest warrants for absent lawmakers under House rules, and his office said Texas Department of Public Safety officers will now follow them around the clock to ensure their continued presence.
Democrats promise to keep fighting
Democrats declared victory while acknowledging Republicans can move forward with redrawn districts.
“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a written statement.
Wu said Democrats would challenge the new designs in court. Republicans now hold 25 of Texas’ 38 U.S. House seats.
Lawmakers did not take up any bills Monday and were not scheduled to return until Wednesday.
Trump has pressured other Republican-run states to consider redistricting, as well, while Democratic governors in multiple statehouses have indicated they would follow California’s lead in response. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said his state will hold a Nov. 4 special referendum on the redrawn districts.
The president wants to shore up Republicans’ narrow House majority and avoid a repeat of the midterms during his first presidency. After gaining House control in 2018, Democrats used their majority to stymie his agenda and twice impeach him.
On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total House seats, only several dozen districts are competitive. So even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.
Redistricting typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade after the census. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among those that empower independent commissions with the task, giving Newsom an additional hurdle.
California Democrats start redrawing process
Democratic legislators introduced new California maps Monday. It was the first official move toward the fall referendum asking voters to override the independent commission’s work after the 2020 census. The proposed boundaries would replace current ones through 2030. Democrats said they will return the mapmaking power to the commission after that.
State Republicans promised lawsuits over the Democrats’ move.
Democrats hold 43 out of California’s 52 U.S. House seats. The proposal would try to expand that advantage by targeting battleground districts in Northern California, San Diego and Orange counties, and the Central Valley. Some Democratic incumbents also would benefit from added left-leaning voters in their districts.
“We didn’t choose this fight, we don’t want this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we cannot run away from this fight,” said Democrat Marc Berman, a California Assembly member who previously chaired the elections committee.
Republicans expressed opposition in terms that echoed Democrats in Austin, with both minority caucuses accusing the majority of abusing power.
Sacramento Republicans said they will introduce legislation advocating for independent redistricting commissions in all states.
“This fight is not a Republican fight, a Democrat fight, a Green Party fight,” said state Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares. “This is about the voice of the people.”
Texas’ governor jumped to the president’s aid
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott launched the expanding battle when he heeded Trump’s wishes and added redistricting to an initial special session agenda that included a number of issues, most notably a package responding to devastating floods that killed more than 130 people last month.
Abbott has blamed Democrats’ absence for delaying action on those measures. Democrats have answered that Abbott is responsible because he insisted on effectively linking the hyper-partisan matter to the nonpartisan flood relief.
Abbott, Burrows and other Republicans tried various threats and legal maneuvers to pressure Democrats’ return, including the governor arguing that Texas judges should remove absent lawmakers from office.
As long as they were out of state, lawmakers were beyond the reach of the civil arrest warrants that Burrows issued. The Democrats who returned Monday did so without being detained by law enforcement. However, plainclothes officers escorted them from the Texas House after Monday’s session, the first visible step of the planned monitoring.
The lawmakers who left face fines of up to $500 for each legislative day they missed. Burrows has insisted Democratic lawmakers also will pick up the tab for state troopers and others who attempted to corral them during the walkout.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Nguyen reported from Sacramento, California.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
